House rental - how to choose??

[SewingMom]

We are going to WDW in September and would like to try a house rental this time instead of a hotel room. Doing a quick Google search shows me that the choices are just overwhelming! How do you narrow it down? How do you make sure it's legit? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[sympatico]

We narrow it down by location. How far do you want to be from Disney? Here's a map that will show you locations of subdivisions:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...8.272032,-81.608849&spn=0.068335,0.11055&z=13

We like the Formosa Gardens area which includes Windsor Hills, Emerald Island, Windsor Palms : these have a manned gate and resort facilities. Also in the same area are Formosa Gardens Estates, Acadia Estates, Sunset Lakes: these have a coded gate no resort facilities except Sunset Lakes does have a community pool. Rolling Hills, Indian Creek and Oak Island Cove/Harbour have no gate, no facilities.
Click on Windsor Hills #1 on the map, then zoom in a little and click on the other markers to see where things are.
Owners have listings on vrbo.com, homeaway.com and lots of other places. Narrow it down to the Kissimmee area, or if you want further out then Davenport and Clermont.
Windsor Hills has it's own site: windsorhillsrent.com
Emerald Island has: stayatemeraldisland.com
Choose the home by what amenities it has that you want and the price.

Check it out on the tax sites: Search for owner, last name first. These are for the Kissimmee area:
http://ira.property-appraiser.org/PropertySearch/
https://www.osceola.county-taxes.com/tcb/app/pt/main

 

[Sunrisedream]

Sunset Lakes has its own site sunsetlakesorlando.com

 

[sympatico]

Sunset Lakes has its own site sunsetlakesorlando.com

Didn't know that, thanks!

 

[SewingMom]

Thank you very much for the links! Wanda, the map is just great, that will help a lot!

So from what I see many of the homes are in subdivisions/communities with some amenities. That will be nice.

It doesn't look like there is one general site then to just pop in what we are looking for and have it return results, right? I need to go to each community's website and look for a home?

It's still sort of scary to hand over a few hundred online not knowing the people at all.

 

[sympatico]

Thank you very much for the links! Wanda, the map is just great, that will help a lot!

So from what I see many of the homes are in subdivisions/communities with some amenities. That will be nice.

It doesn't look like there is one general site then to just pop in what we are looking for and have it return results, right? I need to go to each community's website and look for a home?

It's still sort of scary to hand over a few hundred online not knowing the people at all.

You can search on vrbo.com and homeaway.com and they will give you some choice in your search, especially the homeaway site. Look on the left side and move the bar to the size etc you want.
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rentals/florida/kissimmee-area/r696#main
Mostly you just read down through the listings and see what amenities each home has. It takes some time to go through because there are so many but you get to know what's available. Choose the area or subdivision first then go through the listings and pick out a few that you like.
Email the owners and ask for a quote for your dates and any questions you have. You can ask on these boards if anyone has stayed in that home before.

You can usually get better deals going directly through the owners but you can also try an agency like allstarvacationhomes.com or floridasunvacationhomes.com These are two that get good reviews.

 

[sjanus]

Home Away kind of changed its format lately.

If you go to http://www.homeaway.com/search/keywords:kissimmee and look below the houses they are featuring on top of the page, there are loads of communities. Pick a few communities, Wanda had mentioned Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Emerald Island--they are all close to Disney, maybe start with them for at least some practice. Click on the community and all the homes will come up. There will be some featured at the top but if you scroll down under the communities listed there will be pages of them.

On www.vrbo.com, go to http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/florida/central-disney-orlando/kissimmee and it will divide the Kissimmee rentals into communities by division. Look at Kissimmee West and Kissimmee Central West will have communities nearer to Disney.

Home Away and VRBO are reputable sites and sites where individual home owners advertise their properties, so represents multiple communities. Both also have a guarantee program you can check out on their home pages.

As Wanda says, just choose some homes you like and send an inquiry. Look at the Availability Calendars see if they have good bookings in place, reviews, place a phone call and talk to the owners if you are really interested, and you'll get a feeling of whether you trust the owner or not. You have to gain trust. It is a two way game. You are trusting them for your product and they are trusting you with their home....like any other business relationship.

You can always check them out with their taxes paid, ask on here whether anyone has experience with them, etc.

It is a lot of fun in the shopping!

Sandy

 

[Kuffam]

We just got back from staying at Dreams Villas at Seven Drawfs Lane and had a great time. . It was a 4 bedroom that would sleep 10, full kitchen, washer/dryer, pool/hot tub, playground, tennis court, basketball court, and gated community. It was 30 minutes or less from doorstep to turnstile at MK.

 

[zmanincal]

Thank you very much for the links! Wanda, the map is just great, that will help a lot!

So from what I see many of the homes are in subdivisions/communities with some amenities. That will be nice.

It doesn't look like there is one general site then to just pop in what we are looking for and have it return results, right? I need to go to each community's website and look for a home?

It's still sort of scary to hand over a few hundred online not knowing the people at all.

We had the same feeling about giving money to someone you do not know.

We have done it twice now. Both were positive experiences.

The first place was not Disney themed, but was a great place. Our last stay was at mickeyscondo.com. All of owner's places are Disney themed and are wonderful!! The owner is awesome. We had some a couple of unique issues before we went, and she worked with us every step of the way!

Feel free to PM me if you want any more details.

 

[TrustedTraveler]

Something I learned here on the DIS years ago: before you start your vacation home search consider what you want for sleeping arrangements, ie: how many king beds, singles, cribs, etc. Then consider what amenities you must have. Are TV's in every bedroom important? Want a hot tub or spa? A fancy game room? Wireless broadband?
Then choose what neighborhoods fit your need and/or price range.

Now you are ready to sort through the thousands of homes available.

One note: we started by looking for a four bedroom, but found a better price on a lovely six bedroom (www.sjsvillas.com) and we had room to invite my sister and her family for the weekend.

Your search can be a bit of work, but there are wonderful homes available and compared to the price of multiple hotel rooms, they are all a great deal.